Not All It's Cracked Up To Be
by Kai-Dragon-Nanny
Summary: It's been a month since the end of HTTYD 2, and Hiccup is not taking being Chief all that well. But when they come a cross a shipwreck with something, more like someone, inside that changes things
1. Chapter 1

Hiccup watched on in horror as his beloved dragon, inched closer. His mind no longer his own as he growled at his rider.

"Hey Toothless! Come on, what's the matter with you? No no! Snap out of it," the young Viking pleads desperately, trying to break the Alpha's hold on the Night Fury.

Toothless opened his mouth wide, a light blue glow starting to form in his throat.

"Toothless no. . ." Hiccup sighed, closing his eyes, bracing himself for the end.

"HICCUP!" He hears his father roar.

His eyes shoot open just in time to see Stoick crashing through debris and ice.

"Dad No!" Hiccup screamed, reaching out his hands in hopes of stopping the Chief.

Unfortunately, just like his son, Stoick the Vast didn't listen. Reaching his son at the last second, he pushed Hiccup out of the way just as Toothless released a Plasma Blast.

"DAD!" Hiccup cried, bolting up right in his bed.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face. His brown hair stuck to his forehead here and there. Hiccup tried to slow his breathing, which was heavier than normal. After finally getting his breathing back to some sort of normalcy, Hiccup cupped his face with his shaking hands. Resting his elbows on his legs for support.

"That's the fifth time this week," the young Chief sighs to himself, shaking his head slowly.

Hiccup felt something nudge his shoulder. He looked through his fingers to see Toothless looking at him with a concerned look on his face. He reached up and ran his hand over the bridge of his dragon's nose.

"I'm fine bud. It was just a dream. Actually, more like a nightmare," Hiccup explained, toothless leaning into his riders touch. "At least this time I didn't wake Mo. . ."

"Hiccup?" Valka calls from the bottom of the stairs that lead to his room.

"Mom," Hiccup finishes with a sigh.

Toothless jumped from the bed, wagging his tail happily at the door. Hiccup rolled his eyes and laughed. Since his mom came to live with him, Toothless was happier than ever.

"Glad to see who your favourite is," Hiccup smirked, reaching for his prosthetic leg.

Toothless grumbled softly looking at the door. Hiccup attached his metal leg and followed his Night Fury down the stairs.

"Hiccup, are you okay? I thought I heard you scream," Valka asked, worry plastered on her face.

The young Chief grabbed a fish out of the barrel next to the fire place and throw it to Toothless. He than grabbed one of the roasted ones and taking a seat at the table.

"Just another bad dream," he informs her, poking his fish with a fork.

Valka took a seat across from her son. "Was it about your father again?"

Hiccup let out a breath, placing his fork on the table. "Yes. Every time I close my eyes I see Toothless blast him." The Night Fury hangs his head and let out a whimper. "Oh don't worry Bud. I don't blame you. I just can't believe he's gone. I know it's been over a month but still," he states running a hand over his dragon's head.

Valka goes over to her son and places a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard, Hiccup. But your father wouldn't want you to mourn him. He's with the Gods now eating at Odin's table. He would want you to move on," she states softly. "Plus the people of Berk look up to you now that you're their Chief."

"I know, I know. 'Hiccup, my Yak won't make milk! Chief, my axe was stolen. Hiccup, could you teach me how to fly a Deadly Nadder?'" he mocked, flinging his hands around, "I don't know how dad did it."

Valka laughed at her son's impression of the villagers, "You sound just like Stoick when he first became chief. He was ready to throw the next person who said 'Hey Chief' in Jail. Funny thing was it happened to be Gobber and he was just trying to be funny."

Hiccup scratched under Toothless's chin causing him to purr, "That's actually not a bad idea. The next one to say 'Hey Chief' to me gets to spend the day in Jail," he laughs.

Suddenly the door open to the Chief's house, "Hey Chief!" A voice calls.

Mother and Son turn to see Astrid standing in the doorway. Calla looked from her to Hiccup and back before bursting into laughter.

"Good Morning Astrid," Valka smirks, throwing a look to her son.

"Good Morning to you too, Valka. May I ask what's so funny?" The young Viking asked, only causing Valka to laugh harder.

"Oh just our young Chief's newest order," she giggles, turning to her son. "Want to tell this young lady what that orders were?"

Hiccup rushes over to his girl and tried to turn her away, "No, I don't think that will be needed. She really doesn't . . ."

Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arm and bent it backwards, "Ow! Why would you do that!" He yelps, falling to his knees.

In the last few years, Hiccup and Astrid had become more than just friends, but she was still as aggressive as ever. Which was one of the many things he loved about her, however he's never going to tell her.

"Cause I want you to tell me what your mother meant by your newest order," she asked sternly, keeping a firm grasp on Hiccups arm.

"I-It's nothing! It was j-just a joke!" He tries to explain, through the pain shooting up his arm.

"He said that the next person to say 'Hey Chief' would spend the rest of the day in Jail," Valka explains with a laugh, "And unfortunately, my dear, that seems to be you."

Astrid hides a laugh as she dropped the young Chiefs arm. Hiccup rubs his arm while Toothless let out a gurgled laugh. He throw his best friend a look that could be read as 'Thanks for nothing you useless reptile.'

Astrid looked from Hiccup to his mother. At first he though she was going to hit him, so he was surprised when she suddenly burst out laughing.

"Well if it's the Chief's order, I guess there isn't much I can do," she giggles. Astrid reaches her hands out and puts them together. "Better arrest me now your chiefness. But beware, I won't go with out a fight," she continued with a wink.

Valka bursts out into a fit of laughter, having to use the table to keep herself up right. Astrid just continued to smile with her arms extended to Hiccup, who just shook his head.

"Ha ha, very funny guys. But I wouldn't laugh at the Chief if I were you," he says, making his voice deeper and thrusting his shoulders back. "Or you'll have to deal with all this Viking power!" Hiccup barks gesturing at all of him.

Astrid and Valka look at each other before falling to the ground laughing. Even Toothless had started laughing causing the young chief to roll his eyes.

"Oh . . . Oh now you've done it. M'lady I'm sorry to say this but you are going to have to come with me," he thunders as he goes over and grabs Astrid's arm. Hiccup pulled her to her feet then turn to his mother. "Let this serve as a warning to you."

Valka tries to keep a straight face, "yes my chief. I shall never laugh at a strong Viking again."

"I should hope not," Hiccup says as strongly as he can before heading outside, pulling a giggling Astrid with him.

Toothless happily followed his rider and his girl. Once they were far enough away from the house that Valka couldn't see them, Hiccup slid his hand down her arm so he could inner twine his with her's.

"Oh great and powerful Chief, please spare me. I promise never to make fun of your greatness again . . . well at least for the rest of the day," Astrid laughs, playfully trying to pull her hand from his.

Hiccup spins her so she was standing right in front of him. A few villages turn to look at them when they hear Astrid yelp. However, once they saw it was their chief and his beloved they just smiled and went on their way.

"I'm sorry M'lady, but I can't just let this go. What kinda chief would I be if I just let people go?" he asked leaning towards her. His voice is low and deep, causing Astrid's heart to jump slightly in her chest.

She reaches up and tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. Astrid looked up at him through her eyelashes, "a kind and merciful one."

"You mean like this?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her close so he can place his lips to her's.

Astrid slinks her arms around his neck, melting into him. Toothless gurgles and looked away, as he always did when his and Stormfly's riders would start doing kissing. After a few minutes the young couple broke apart, Hiccup placing his forehead to Astrid's.

"Well I've sure learned my lesson," she jokes, looking deep into his eyes.

Hiccup smiled and stood up straight, "I hope so!"

Astrid laughed and slipped her hand back into his as they continued their morning walk of the village. As the couple made their way around the village, people would wave and cheered. But with ever 'Hello Chief' or 'Good Morning Chief', Hiccup's smile would slowly fade.

Astrid knew right away that there was something wrong with the man she had grown to love. "Hiccup, what's the matter?" she asked, squeezing his hand.

The young Chief continued to stare off into the distance, not hearing her question. Astrid stopped in her tracks, and cause they were holding hands, Hiccup almost got pulled off his feet.

He regained his balance before turning to face the blonde Viking, "what was that for?"

Astrid dropped his hand so she can place her's on her hips. "I asked if something was wrong and you completely ignored me. Which pretty much answered my question," she explains worry mixed with her annoyance.

Hiccup sighed and bowed his head, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I've just got a lot on my mind."

She reached up and placed a hand on his cheeks. "You still having those dreams?" she asked, rubbing her thumb over his cheek.

"Almost every night this week," he tells her as he leaned into her touch, "and every time I hear someone calls out 'Chief', I think they're calling out to him. And if I just turn around he'll be standing behind me, his ever present scowl on his face."

"Oh Hiccup, I know it's been a tough couple of weeks for you. Sure you lost your father cause he was killed by your best friend . . ." she starts to explain, Toothless letting out a small whimper at the memory.

Hiccup takes a step back, "you know after all these years, you still aren't the greatest at giving pep talks."

"But you gained a mother and became the Chief of Berk," she finishes, cupping his face with both hands this time. "I know you miss your dad a lot but you need to stop dwelling in the past and focus on the future, our future."

Hiccup looked into her deep blue eyes and could help falling deeper in love with her. "I guess your right," he says with a small smile.

Astrid smiled as she leaned up, placing a kiss on his cheek. She then slipped her hand once more into his. "Aren't I always?" she chimes as they continue to walk through the village.

Before Hiccup could say anything, he saw Fishleg running towards them. Meatlug was following close behind her rider.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" he calls over and over.

"Whoa there Fishlegs, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked once his friend was in ear shot.

"T-there . . . wreck . . . Oh gods, I shouldn't have eaten those extra dozen fish this morning . . ." the bigger Viking gasps, bending over slightly as he tried to catch his breath.

Astrid suppresses a laugh, while Hiccup simply rolls his eyes.

"Breath, Fishlegs! What do you mean by wreck?" he asked the out of breath dragon rider.

Fishlegs takes a few deep breaths. "A shipwreck. Meatlug and I were just finishing up our morning patrol of the beaches when we spotted it," he explained, running a hand over his beloved dragon.

"Must have been caused by that big storm that passed by last night," Astrid suggests.

Hiccup thinks for a moment. "We need to go see if there are any survivors. Fishlegs, go round up the twins and Snotlout. Astrid, you go grab Stormfly. We will meet back here in 10," he orders before heading over to Toothless.

Astrid and Fishlegs nod before running off in separate directions. Hiccup runs a hand over Toothless' head, "looks like we get to go flying this morning, Bud."


	2. Chapter 2

Hiccup couldn't help but smile as he felt the wind in his hair. It felt like ages since they all had gone flying together.

"So where did you see the wreck?" he calls to Fishlegs.

Fishlegs looks around then points to his right. "Should be right down there," he informs them.

"Okay, here's the plan, Ruff and Tuff, you go scan the east side. Snotlout, Fishlegs, you guys go scan the woods behind the beach. See if anyone tried to get to the village. Astrid and I will check the west side. If you guys find anything, use your dragon calls," Hiccup says, pointing in each direction as he delegates jobs.

"Yes Chief," they all call before heading in their designated directions.

Once the others were gone, Astrid flies Stormfly closer to Hiccup and Toothless. "Think it's a Berserker ship?" she asked.

"I guess we'll find out. There it is," he says pointing to the remains of a ship.

The couple descend on the beach. They made sure not to land on any of the debris that had washed up on shore.

"Most have been a very powerful storm to have caused this kind of damage. I'm not sure if we are looking for survivors," Astrid says, kicking a piece of wood.

Hiccup was about to say he hopped not when a soft growl came from the wreckage. "Sounds like something survived," he whispered. He slowly made his way over to the side of the boat he had heard the growl.

Astrid followed close behind, her hand on the sheath of her dagger. Hiccup finally located the sound and held up a finger to his lip. She nodded, tightening her grip on the dagger. He grabbed a piece of wood that was in the way before tossing it aside. His eyes grow wide when he see's what was making the growling sound.

"Hiccup, what is it?" Astrid asks moving closer to him.

"It's a baby dragon!" he says.

Sure enough a tiny dragon crawls out from the wreckage. Astrid's eyes grow wide as well once she see's it. It wasn't just any baby dragon, it looked like a very tiny version of Toothless!

"Is that what I think it is?" she asks, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Hiccup kneels down so he can get a closer look. The baby dragon was black like Toothless, except it's skin had a slight purple tint to it. The tiny dragon arched it's back and growled. Hiccup takes note that it won't leave the safety of the wreckage and when he tried to get closer it growled louder.

"I'm not sure, but what I do know is it's guarding something," he explains. Hiccup slowly reaches out a hand, keeping it a safe distance from the baby.

It growled one more time before slowly walking over to his out stretched hand. The baby sniffed him a couple times before nudging it's head into his hand. Once Hiccup was sure it wasn't going to harm him, he run his hand under its chin, scratching the sensitive area causing it to fall asleep.

"It looks like a baby Night Fury," Astrid states once Hiccup had scoped the sleeping baby into his arms.

Hiccup looks over the tiny dragon. Once he had finished making sure it wasn't injured, he discovered that he wasn't holding a baby Night Fury but something just as rare.

"She's a Skrill! Which explains why we thought she was a Night Fury. From a distance, especially as a baby, Skrills resemble Night Fury's," he explains, rocking her back and forth.

Astrid's eyes grew wider, if that was possible, "B-but I thought Skrills were extinct."

"So did I but apparently not. What I don't get is why she was hiding in the wreckage of ship," he says, looking over at the destroyed ship.

Astrid kneeled down next to the wreckage and looked into the hole where they had found the Skrill. Suddenly Astrid gasps, her hands flying to her mouth.

"There's a girl! The baby was guarding a girl!" she says as she starts to crawl into the hole.

Hiccup watches as Astrid slowly pulls out a girl with long red hair. She was out cold but her chest was moving up and down, which meant she was breathing.

"We need to get her back to the Village," Astrid says, scooping the young girl up in her arms.

She carries her over to Stormfly. Once the young girl was safely secured on Stormfly's back, Astrid jumps up onto her Dragon. Hiccup couldn't seem to look away from the young girl. She looked no older then him. She had long flowing red hair that reminded him of the flames of a Monstrous Nightmare. The one thing that he found interesting was the fact that she had freckles all over her soft face.

"I'm going to go take her to the healer. You should signal to the others that we found something," Astrid tells him, bringing him out of his daze.

Hiccup gave a quick nod before Stormfly took off towards the Village. He watched his girl fly off till she had disappeared behind the tree line. Something nudges his elbow. Toothless had made his way over and was giving the sleeping baby dragon a curious look.

Hiccup smiled at his night fury. "Not it's not a baby Night Fury but a Skrill. I just wonder how that girl got her hands on one," he pondered looking down at the sleeping baby.

Toothless gurgles something, earning a smile from his rider. "That could be it but I have a feeling the only way we're going to find out is by heading back to the village."

The young chief sends out a dragon call, telling the others he and Astrid were heading back to the village. He then hoped on the back of Toothless. Once he made sure the baby Skrill was safely secure in the pouch attached to the Night Fury's side they jumped off and headed after Astrid.

The village was just coming into site when a small whimper came from the pouch. The baby Skrill had awoke and was now crying. Hiccup knew right away that the tiny dragon had noticed her missing companion.

"We're almost there little one," he says softly as he reached down and ran a hand over her head. This seemed to calm the baby but she still whimpered quietly. "Better pick up the pace bud."

Toothless nodded in understanding before increasing his speed. Pretty soon they were landing next to Stormfly in front of the healer's house. Hiccup scoops the baby in his arms before heading in.

Astrid was leaning against a pillar as the healer was looking over the young girl. At the site of her friend, the baby Skrill jumped from Hiccups arms. She flapped her tiny wings a few times till she could land on the red head's lap.

"How is she?" the young chief inquired heading over to his girl.

"Healer says that other then the nasty bump on the back of her head she's fine. She should wake soon," Astrid says her eyes trailing to the dragon. The Skrill had nudge the unconscious girls hand a couple times before curling up on her lap. "It's as if it thinks the girl is its mother."

Hiccup noticed the sadness on the young dragons face. "While we were on the way hear, she woke up and started to cry. Plus there's how she acted at the wreckage. Even Ruff and Tuff could have seen that she was protecting this young girl."

"I still can't figure out how this girl even got a hold of a Skrill. Maybe she is in fact a berserker. Skrill's are the symbol for their village after all," Astrid says.

He sighs cause he knew she was right. There really was no other explanation. "Guess we're just going to have to wait till she wakes to find out. However, if she is in fact a Berserker I will deal with her personally," the young chief states giving Astrid a quick kiss on the cheek.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long for the young girl to wake up. The other had just come back to report that they hadn't found anyone else when she started to stir. The baby Skrill, which hadn't left it's post the entire hour, even when Hiccup offered her a fish, jumped up and gurgled happily.

"A-Aleskia?" she mumbles sleepily. The baby dragon gurgled louder before licking the young girls face. Suddenly the young girl shot up, her eyes wide. Seeing the baby a smile appeared on her face as she pulled the Skrill close. "Oh I'm so glad your okay!" she cries a tear falling from her bright green eyes.

Astrid got up from her seat and walked over to the cot. "We're glad both of you are okay. To be honest we were surprised to find any survivors with how bad the wreckage was," she explains gently.

The young girl's head spun to face them, as if noticing that she wasn't as alone asshe thought. She pulled her dragon closer, fear plastered on her freckled face. "Who are you? Where are we?" she asked franticly. Her eyes couldn't seem to focus on just one spot.

"This is Astrid," Hiccup tells her, raising his hands defensively, And my name is Hiccup. I'm the chief of Berk. Which is where you are currently."

She looked from one to another before slowly releasing her dragon. "Berk? As in the island of Berk?" she asked looking around a little slower.

"The one and only," he smiles. "Now may I ask what your name is?"

The young girl looked down at her dragon, who was still smiling happily up at her owner. "My name is Kia and this is Aleskia," she introduces pulling her dragon close once again.

"It's nice to meet both of you. We'll have to introduce you to Toothless and Stormfly when your feeling a bit better," he says taking a seat on the edge of her cot.

Kia moved away slightly, keeping Aleskia close. "Who are they?" she asked, giving Hiccup a wiry once over.

Astrid leans against a pillar closer to the cot. "Their our dragons. Stormfly is mine and Toothless is the chief's here."

The young red heads eyes grew wide again. "So the rumours were true! I can't believe this! Haskell will be so happy!"

"Who's Haskell?" Astrid asks, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Haskell is a friend of mine. He had heard rumours of and island where Dragons and Humans lived in peace. So we set off to find it. And apparently we did! He must be so happy!" Kia says, finally smiling. She looked around one more time. "Is he in another room?"

Hiccup exchange a worried look with Astird. "No he's not. Kia, you and Aleskia were the only ones we found at the wreckage. Our friends searched the entire island and they didn't find anyone," he tells her sadly.

Kia's face dropped as tears appeared in her eyes. "They must have missed somewhere. He was on the boat when that wave . . . oh gods!" She cries, laying back down.

The Chief reached out to her but she moved away. Tears were now streaming from her green eyes. Aleskia walked over so she was closer to the red heads face. The baby let out a whimper before snuggling into her crying owner.

Astrid places a gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Let's leave her. She needs to rest."

He slowly got up off the cot and followed her out the door. Once out the door was shut silently behind them, Hiccup turned to his girl. "Well at least we know she isn't a Berserker. They know about us and our dragons," he says.

"Remember Heather though? You thought we could trust her too till she stole the book of Dragons," Astrid reminds him with a smirk.

Hiccup playfully shoves her. "Are you ever going to let me live it down?" he asked glaring at her.

"Not likely. I just think we should keep an eye on her," she says glancing at the door.

He follows her gaze with a sigh. "Fine but we also need to keep an eye out for this Haskell. There are a few questions I wouldn't mine asking. If we ever do fine him."

"I'll get Fishlegs to do one more round of the island. Maybe Kia is write, they may have missed him," Astrid tells him, her hand running down Stormfly's neck.

"Sounds like a plan. I just hope we do find him. The guy seems really important to Kia," Hiccup says, sounding a little annoyed at that last part.

Astrid gave him a confused look. Since she first saw him look at her, Astrid didn't like Kia. She just hoped that just like with Heather, her feeling were wrong.


End file.
